Richard Whiting (1461 – 15 November 1539) was an English Catholic priest and the last

Abbot of Glastonbury __NOTOC__ The Abbot of Glastonbury was the head (or abbot) of Anglo-Saxon and eventually Benedictine house of Glastonbury Abbey at Glastonbury in Somerset, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land bo ...

. Whiting presided over

Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It w ...

at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–1541) under King

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. The king had him hanged, drawn and quartered after his conviction for treason for remaining loyal to Rome. He is considered a martyr by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, which

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

him on 13 May 1895.

Early life

Richard Whiting was born near Wrington. He was educated at Glastonbury Abbey, and then at the Monk's Hostel at Cambridge, Camm OSB, Bede. Chapter IX "The Blessed Richard Whiting, Abbot of Glastonbury", ''Lives of the English Martyrs'', Longmans, Green and Co., 1914
/ref> graduating with an MA in 1483.

Career

Whiting was ordained deacon in 1500 and priest in 1501. He returned to Cambridge in 1505 to take his doctor's degree. He served as '' camerarius'' at Glastonbury in charge of managing the dormitory, lavatory, and wardrobe of the community. After the death of the Abbot of Glastonbury, Richard Beere, in February 1525, the community elected his successor ''per formam compromissi'', which elevates the selection to a higher ranking personage – in this case Cardinal

Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the ...

. Wolsey obtained King Henry's permission to act and chose Richard Whiting. The first ten years of Whiting's rule were prosperous and peaceful. He was a sober and caring spiritual leader and a good manager of the abbey's day-to-day life.Huddleston, Gilbert. "Blessed Richard Whiting." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 23 Mar. 2013
/ref> Contemporary accounts show that Whiting was held in very high esteem. The abbey over which Whiting presided was one of the richest and most influential in England. About one hundred monks lived in the enclosed monastery, where the sons of the nobility and gentry were educated before going on to university.Richard Stanton, ''A Menology of England and Wales'' (Burns & Oates Ltd., London, 1892)
p. 538
/ref> As Abbot of Glastonbury, Whiting was a peer of the realm and administrator of vast estates. Whiting signed his assent to the

Act of Supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the En ...

when it was first presented to him and his monks in 1534. Henry sent Richard Layton to examine Whiting and the other inhabitants of the abbey. He found all in good order, but suspended the abbot's jurisdiction over the town of

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

. Small "injunctions" were given to him about the management of the abbey property. A number of times over the years which followed, Whiting was told the abbey was safe from dissolution. However, the 1535 Suppression of Religious Houses Act brought about the dissolution of the lesser monasteries and provided a warning of what the future might hold.

Death

By January 1539, Glastonbury was the only monastery left in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. Abbot Whiting refused to surrender the abbey, which did not fall under the Act for the suppression of the lesser houses. On 19 September of that year the royal commissioners, Layton, Richard Pollard and

Thomas Moyle Sir Thomas Moyle (1488 – 2 October 1560) was a commissioner for Henry VIII in the dissolution of the monasteries, and Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament of England from 1542 to 1544. Life He was the fourth son of John Moyl ...

, arrived there without warning on the orders of

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...

, presumably to find faults and thus facilitate the abbey's closure. The commissioners had expected to find considerable treasure at Glastonbury and finding comparatively little, they proceeded to a more thorough search, finding money and plate walled up in secure vaults. There also was heard rumour of other items relocated to other estates and manors belonging to the Abbey. Whiting, by now feeble and advanced in years, was sent to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

so that Cromwell might examine him himself. The precise charge on which he was arrested, and subsequently executed, remains uncertain, though his case is usually referred to as one of treason. Cromwell clearly acted as judge and jury: in his manuscript ''Remembrances'' are the entries: Marillac, the French Ambassador, on 25 October wrote: "The Abbot of Glastonbury. . . has lately, been put in the Tower, because, in taking the Abbey treasures, valued at 200,000 crowns, they found a written book of arguments in behalf of queen Katherine." As a member of the House of Lords, Whiting should have been attainted (condemned) by an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

passed for that purpose, but his execution was an accomplished fact before Parliament met. Whiting was sent back to Glastonbury with Pollard, and reached Wells on 14 November. There a trial apparently took place, and he was convicted of "robbing Glastonbury church". The next day, Saturday, 15 November, he was taken to Glastonbury with two of his monks, treasurer of the church John Thorne and sacristan Roger James, where all three were fastened upon hurdles and dragged by horses to the top of

Glastonbury Tor Glastonbury Tor is a hill near Glastonbury in the English county of Somerset, topped by the roofless St Michael's Tower, a Grade I listed building. The entire site is managed by the National Trust and has been designated a scheduled monument. T ...

which overlooks the town. Here they were hanged, drawn and quartered, with Whiting's head being fastened over the west gate of the now deserted abbey and his limbs exposed at Wells, Bath,

Ilchester Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. Originally a Roman town, and later a market town, Ilchester has a rich medieval history and was a nota ...

and Bridgwater.

Legacy

*Whiting was

by the Pope Leo XIII on 13 May 1895. *Whiting was the subject of a novel, ''The Last Abbot of Glastonbury'' (1883), by Augustine David Crake. *When

Frederick Bligh Bond Frederick Bligh Bond (30 June 1864 – 8 March 1945), generally known by his second given name ''Bligh'', was an English architect, illustrator, archaeologist and psychical researcher. Early life Bligh Bond was the son of the Rev. Frederick ...

(1864–1945) excavated Glastonbury Abbey, he removed bones he believed belonged to Richard Whiting.

Notes

References

* ''The Last Abbot of

and Other Essays'',

Francis Aidan Gasquet Francis Aidan Cardinal Gasquet (born Francis Neil Gasquet; 5 October 1846 – 5 April 1929) was an English Benedictine monk and historical scholar. He was created Cardinal in 1914. Life Gasquet was the third of six children of Raymond Gasquet, ...

, 1908 * ''King Arthur's Avalon: The Story of Glastonbury'',

Geoffrey Ashe Geoffrey Thomas Leslie Ashe (29 March 1923 – 30 January 2022) was a British cultural historian and lecturer, known for his focus on King Arthur. Early life Born in London, Ashe was an only child who excelled all his classmates in academics ...